Multimedia emergency services

ABSTRACT

A system and method for remotely controlling one or more monitoring devices in a user&#39;s household in the event of emergency so as to more productively monitor the emergency situation on a real-time basis. The monitoring devices may include a number of multimedia instruments such as a telephone with an answering machine, a computer with a built-in digital camera, a video recording device, a cellular phone with an integrated digital camera, etc. An emergency service provider may remotely activate the monitoring devices in the user&#39;s vicinity upon receiving an emergency help request from the user, and receive the information sent by the monitoring devices to enable the service personnel to plan appropriate response to the emergency at hand. Such an arrangement allows for better monitoring of the user&#39;s vicinity in an emergency situation without the need for prolonged user participation in narrating or describing the emergency situation. Further, the emergency service provider may obtain a better picture of the emergency and its impact by controlling appropriate monitoring devices available in the user&#39;s vicinity. The remote activation and control of a monitoring device may be accomplished via the Internet.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of and claims prioritypursuant to 35 U.S.C. §120 to pending application Ser. No. 09/740,374,filed Dec. 19, 2000 U.S. Pat. No. 6,567,502.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

(Not Applicable)

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention broadly relates to providing emergency services(e.g., the police services) to the public, and more particularly, to asystem and method of providing emergency services wherein the emergencyservice provider (e.g., the police) gets control of one or moremonitoring devices in the vicinity of a user requesting emergency help.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art emergency reporting arrangementusing a telephone 10. A person or user 12 in need of emergency helpdials a designated emergency reporting number (e.g., ‘911’) to connectto an emergency service center (ESC) 14. The emergency service center 14may be a 911-response center, a police station, a hospital, a firestation, a combination of these places or any other location equippedfor dispatching emergency relief. A carrier network 16 may electricallyconnect the telephone 10 to a receiving apparatus (e.g., an operatorheadset receiver) at the ESC 14. The carrier network 16 may include,individually or in combination, the plain old telephone system (POTS),the more advanced public switched telephone network (PSTN), or awireless communication network (e.g., a cellular telephone network) whenthe telephone 10 is, for example, a cellular phone (“cell phone”).

Instead of dialing all the digits contained in the designated emergencyreporting number (e.g., ‘9’,‘1’,‘1’), a user may instead “speed dial”the number by programming a single key on the telephone 10. In thismanner, the user need not press individual digits of the phone number,but, instead, may need to press only a pre-marked speed dial key. Somemodern cell phones come equipped with a “button” or key on their keypadsthat is dedicated to dial a predetermined emergency phone number (e.g.,‘911’).

Thus, typically, the user 12 requests emergency help over the phone 10.When the user 12 dials the emergency phone number (e.g., ‘911’), anoperator at the ESC 14 answers the phone and asks the user 12 to statethe user's name, the address or place of the emergency, the nature ofthe emergency, the cause of the problem, etc. In response, the user 12has to provide the requested information in sufficient detail so as toenable the emergency service personnel to locate the user and the placeof the emergency and also to come prepared to the emergency locationdepending on the nature of the emergency. For example, in case of arobbery, the user 12 may need to inform the operator at the ESC 14 ofthe seriousness of the emergency so that the police or other emergencyservice personnel may arrive at the place of trouble with adequatesafety measures in place.

However, it is easily observed that the user 12 may not always be ableto adequately describe the user's vicinity during the emergency. Forexample, in the robbery situation described above, the user may not bein a safe position to talk at length (about the robbery) over the phone10 or, alternatively, the user 12 may simply be so dumbfounded by thechain of events as to not be able to effectively narrate the urgency ofthe situation or of the surroundings to the ESC 14 operator. The usermay not even be physically capable of narrating the user's vicinity, forexample, when the user suffers a heart attack and wishes just to informthe emergency service provider (e.g., the police or the hospital) of theuser's condition without further discussion or details.

The user 12 may have one or more monitoring devices (not shown) in theuser's vicinity or in the user's household or dwelling 17 to record ormonitor certain situations. For example, the user 12 may be wearing amonitor/transmitter that can record and transmit (upon request) theuser's current blood pressure. Alternatively, the user 12 may have avideo camera in the user's vicinity which, when activated, may recordand transmit visual images depicting the user's surroundings at the timeof the camera activation, thereby providing the viewer with a visualdescription of the user's vicinity. For example, in a robbery situation,the video camera may capture and transmit the images of the eventsoccurring in the user's vicinity. These events may include the act ofrobbery, the physical looks/descriptions and location (if possible) ofthe robber and any accomplices, the extent of physical injury to theuser or any other party, the location of any exit route or stairways inthe building, etc.

However, many monitoring devices may not be already active at the timeof emergency, and must be activated by the user or someone else beforeany condition in the user's vicinity can be monitored. Furthermore, inmany emergency situations (e.g., under threat of physical safety orunder an onset of a life-threatening emergency), the user may not bephysically capable of accessing the monitoring device to activate it,even if the user wishes to do so. Also, the user 12 may not even be ableto speak or narrate his/her emergency situation when connected to theoperator at the ESC 14. Additionally, the ESC 14 may have a finitenumber of incoming telephone lines. In that situation, because of thecircuit-switched nature of telephone communications, the person placingthe emergency call may end up receiving a line “busy” signal instead ofan operator's voice. In other words, the ESC 14 may not immediatelyattend to the user's phone call in the event of a large number ofdistress calls to the ESC 14. This may not be desirable, especially whenthe caller's situation demands prompt and instant attention.

It is therefore desirable for an emergency service provider to be ableto remotely control one or more monitoring devices in the user'svicinity when the user sends an emergency help request. Such anarrangement allows for better monitoring of the user's vicinity in anemergency situation without the need for prolonged user participation innarrating or describing the emergency situation. Further, the emergencyservice provider may obtain a better picture of the emergency and itsimpact by controlling appropriate monitoring devices available in theuser's vicinity. The availability of modern high-speed data processorsand the continually growing popularity of the Internet make it desirableto perform remote monitoring—including activation and deactivation ofvarious monitoring devices—of an emergency condition using the Internetor other IP (Internet Protocol) network. It may also be desirable forthe emergency service provider to offer a subscription-based orusage-based emergency monitoring service.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention contemplates a method of monitoring the vicinityof a user requesting emergency help. The method comprises receiving anemergency help request from the user; and remotely controlling one ormore monitoring devices in the user's vicinity in response to theemergency help request from the user. The monitoring devices may includea number of multimedia instruments such as a telephone with an answeringmachine, a computer with a built-in digital camera, a video recordingdevice, a cellular phone with an integrated digital camera, etc. Theemergency help request from the user is received at an emergency servicecenter (ESC) which then establishes an individual communication sessionwith each monitoring device to receive the monitored informationtherefrom. The ESC may determine what parameters (e.g., sight, sound,blood pressure, heart rate, etc.) a monitoring device can monitor, thetype of the monitored information (audio information, video information,etc.), and the form (data packets, analog signals, etc.) in which themonitored information is available from the monitoring device.

In one embodiment, the ESC may remotely query each monitoring device todetermine what capabilities that device has. Based on the determinationof the device capabilities, the ESC may then remotely activate theappropriate monitoring device to obtain the information needed to allowthe ESC personnel to prepare the best possible response to tackle theemergency at hand. The information about device capabilities may beobtained from a database within the ESC. Alternatively, the querieddevice may send a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address for a web sitefrom which the ESC can obtain pertinent device-specific information.

The present invention also contemplates a system for monitoring thevicinity of a user requesting emergency help. The system comprises oneor more monitoring devices installed in the vicinity of the user,wherein at least one of the one or more monitoring devices is configuredto transmit an emergency help request from the user; and an emergencyservice center (ESC) in communication with the one or more monitoringdevices, wherein the ESC is configured to receive the emergency helprequest and to remotely control the one or more monitoring devices inresponse thereto. The ESC may be connected to the monitoring devices viaa carrier network, which may include, individually or in combination,the plain old telephone system (POTS), the more advanced public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), or a wireless communication network (e.g., acellular telephone network), depending on the type of monitoring devicecommunicating with the ESC. The ESC may also communicate with amonitoring device via the Internet.

The present invention further contemplates a method of providingemergency services. The method comprises offering a fee-based emergencymonitoring service (EMS); receiving an emergency help request from asubscriber of the EMS; and remotely controlling one or more monitoringdevices in the subscriber's vicinity in response to the emergency helprequest from the subscriber. A provider of the EMS may initially receivethe monitored data from the remote monitoring devices, and may thentransfer the data to an emergency service center (ESC) serving theregion in which the subscriber's household is located. Thus, the EMSprovider may act as an intermediary between the subscriber and the ESC.In an alternative arrangement, the ESC may itself be the EMS provider.

The remote activation of the monitoring devices and the remote receptionof the monitored information sent by the monitoring devices enableemergency service personnel to plan an appropriate response to theemergency at hand. Such an arrangement allows for better monitoring ofthe user's vicinity in an emergency situation without the need forprolonged user participation in narrating or describing the emergencysituation. Further, an emergency service provider may obtain a betterpicture of the emergency and its impact by controlling appropriatemonitoring devices available in the user's vicinity. The remotemonitoring of the user's vicinity at the time of emergency is alsouseful to expeditiously gauge the severity of the emergency, and, hence,to prepare an adequate response to help the user in need of emergencyassistance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages of the present invention may be better understood byreferring to the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art emergency reporting arrangementusing a telephone;

FIG. 2 is a general flow diagram of a method of remotely controllingvarious monitoring devices according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a general arrangement wherein the emergency servicecenter remotely controls three monitoring devices in the user'shousehold;

FIG. 4 depicts an arrangement wherein the emergency service centerremotely controls a monitoring device connected to a wireless LAN;

FIGS. 5 and 6 show arrangements wherein the emergency service centerremotely controls one or more monitoring devices via an IP network; and

FIG. 7 represents a setup for providing the emergency monitoring service(EMS) according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

It is noted at the outset that the numeral 17 is primarily usedhereinbelow to indicate that portion of the user's actual household ordwelling which is to be monitored when an emergency is reported, i.e.,that portion of the user's household which comprises the relevantvicinity for the user in the time of emergency. Thus, in some situations(e.g., when the user 12 is having a heart attack), the term “household”(as represented by numeral 17) may simply refer to a single room oroffice within the user's actual household. On the other hand, in someother situations (e.g., when the user's household is robbed orburglarized), numeral 17 may represent the user's entire household,including different rooms, offices, basement, etc., because of the needto monitor different locations, for example, to assess damage or tolocate any culprit hiding within the household. Furthermore, the user 12may not even be physically present in the user's household 17 that is tobe monitored. For example, in case of a burglary, the user 12 may becalling the police or other appropriate ESC 14 from a place differentfrom the actual location of burglary-i.e., the user's household. Here,the user's “relevant vicinity” may still include the user's actualhousehold even if the user 12 is not physically present there. Insummary, it is noted that the terms “household” and user's “vicinity”are used interchangeably hereinbelow depending on the context ofreference and both may be construed to be represented by the singlenumeral 17.

FIG. 2 is a general flow diagram of a method of remotely controllingvarious monitoring devices according to the present invention. As shownin FIG. 2, the user 12 initially requests emergency help at block 18.Typically, the user 12 calls the emergency service center (ESC) 14 at apre-designated emergency telephone number (e.g., ‘911’). At block 20,the ESC 14 receives the emergency help request from the user 12 andqueries (or sends commands to) one or more monitoring devices (which arein the user's vicinity) in the user's household 17 to determine whatcapabilities those devices have. For example, the ESC 14 may determinewhat parameters (e.g., sight, sound, blood pressure, heart rate, etc.) amonitoring device can monitor, the type (e.g., audio information, videoinformation, etc.) and the form (e.g., data packets, analog signals,etc.) in which the monitored information is available from themonitoring device, etc.

After determining the capabilities of various monitoring devices in theuser's household 17, the ESC 14 remotely takes control of those devicesat block 22 so as to monitor the user's vicinity during the emergency.In one embodiment, the operator (at the ESC 14) answering the user'sphone call may manually activate the remote controlling functionalitydepending on a number of factors, e.g., whether the user 12 hassubscribed to the remote emergency monitoring service, whether thenature of the emergency (as explained by the user 12 over the phone 10)requires remote monitoring, whether there is any monitoring device inthe vicinity of the user requesting emergency help and whether thatmonitoring device is capable of being controlled remotely, etc. In analternative embodiment, the remote controlling of various monitoringdevices may be performed automatically by the ESC 14 (in hardware and/orsoftware) once the emergency call from the user 12 is received at theESC 14. As discussed hereinbelow, the user 12 may need to “register”with the emergency monitoring service various monitoring devices in theuser's entire household 17 so that the ESC 14 may have a record of whichdevices in the user's household are capable of remote activation andcontrol.

The duration of remote monitoring may be either manually determined bythe operator at the ESC 14 or automatically by the ESC 14 after apredetermined time (e.g., 3 minutes) has elapsed since activation of theremote monitoring functionality at the ESC 14. The duration of remotemonitoring may depend, for example, on the user's description of theemergency or on the content and quality of the information received fromthe remote monitoring devices that can enable other emergency servicepersonnel to effectively plan emergency assistance. The ESC 14terminates or discontinues remote monitoring at blocks 24, 26 and, basedon the monitored data or information, provides appropriate emergencyassistance (e.g., dispatching firefighters or police to the location ofthe emergency, or informing the user 12 to contact another emergencyhelp center, etc.).

The present invention thus alleviates the need for the user 12 toexplain the emergency at length to an operator at the ESC 14. Instead,the ESC 14 may itself remotely monitor the emergency situation and makea speedy determination of what responsive measures are required totackle the emergency. In one embodiment, the ESC 14 may continuemonitoring the user's vicinity for a predetermined time even after theuser 12 has hung up the phone 10 after reporting the emergency. Asdiscussed hereinbelow, the ESC 14 may also offer the remote emergencymonitoring service to the user 12 for a fee or charge. Therefore, underthe system and method of the present invention, the burden on the user12 to maintain the telephone contact with the ESC 14 and also toeffectively narrate the emergency condition to the ESC operator issubstantially reduced.

FIG. 3 illustrates a general arrangement wherein the ESC 14 remotelycontrols three monitoring devices 28, 30, 32 in the user's household 17.The monitoring devices are shown connected to the carrier network 16 viaa first connecting link 34. As noted hereinbefore, the carrier network16 may include, individually or in combination, the plain old telephonesystem (POTS), the more advanced public switched telephone network(PSTN), or a wireless communication network (e.g., a cellular telephonenetwork), depending on the type of the device communicating with the ESC14. The first connecting link 34 may be capable of carrying voice anddata signals from the devices 28, 30, and 32. Furthermore, it may bedesirable to carry voice and data simultaneously over the firstconnecting link 34 to better monitor the emergency situation. Forexample, an operator at the ESC 14 may talk with the user 12simultaneously while viewing video of the user's vicinity during anemergency call. Similarly, the ESC 14 may be connected to the carriernetwork 16 via a second connecting link 35, which can be similar in typeto the first connecting link 34. Some examples of the first and thesecond connecting links 34, 35 include a regular telephone line cable,an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) line, an ADSL(Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) line, an optical fibre link, aradio link (e.g., when the carrier network 16 supports wirelesscommunication), a cable modem link, etc.

In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3, the monitoring device 28 maybe a fax machine with a built-in telephone (similar to the telephone 10)unit, the monitoring device 30 may be a video camera unit, and themonitoring device 32 may be a telephone answering machine. Additionalmonitoring devices (e.g., a digital camera, or a computer with abuilt-in camera unit, or a telephone with built-in video camera and dataports) may also be connected to the first connecting link 34 to obtainaudio and/or video information from the user's vicinity in the time ofemergency.

The operator at the ESC 14 receiving an emergency notification from theuser 12 (e.g., as a voice message over a telephone, or as an electronicmail message over the Internet) may send a query message to the user'shousehold 17 (i.e., to the monitoring devices 28, 30, 32) over thesecond connecting link 35. In one embodiment, the query message from theESC 14 may simply be a sequence of predetermined digits or analphanumeric message. For example, the sequence “A394BEH6” may betransmitted as a group of DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) signalsconstituting the query message from the ESC 14. Each ESC 14 offering theremote monitoring service according to the present invention may beassigned a different combination of letters and numerals for the querymessages. Alternatively, the user 12 may select a user-specific querymessage and notify the ESC 14 to send that query message to the devicesin the user's household 17. As mentioned hereinbelow, the user 12 maythen program the monitoring devices 28, 30, 32 to be responsive to thespecific query message selected by the user. Still further, the user 12may select a different query message for each monitoring device 28, 30,32. In that event, the ESC 14 may need to transmit three separate querymessages to the user's household 17—one for each respective monitoringdevice.

In one embodiment, appropriate hardware at the ESC 14 may be configuredto automatically send the query to the monitoring devices 28, 30, 32upon receiving the emergency notification from the user. The monitoringdevices 28, 30, 32 may be programmed during manufacture or by the user12 at a later time to receive the query from the ESC 14 and toresponsively transmit device-specific information to the ESC 14. Thedevice-specific information may include, for example, the type of thedevice, an indication of the functional capabilities of the device, alist of commands or electronic “keys” or passwords that can controlvarious features of the device, the make, model, and manufacturer of thedevice, etc.

The ESC 14 determines, based on the device-specific information receivedfrom the respective monitoring device 28, 30, or 32, whether the deviceneeds to be remotely activated for monitoring the user's vicinity andwhat feature or features of the device are to be activated. For example,when the monitoring device 32 is an answering machine, that answeringmachine may transmit, in response to a query from the ESC 14, a list ormenu of remote operation commands that the ESC 14 may use to activatecorresponding functionality remotely. Thus, upon receiving thedevice-specific information from the answering machine 32, the ESC 14may, for example, send the appropriate code or command that remotelyinstructs the answering machine 32 to turn on its built-in microphone tomonitor conversation, sound, or noise in the user's vicinity 17. Suchmonitoring may be desirable when, for example, the user 12 is reportinga burglary in the household 17 or when somebody in the user's household17 is under physical threat of violence or attack.

The foregoing discusses one method in which a communication session witheach of the monitoring devices 28, 30, and 32 is established afterdevice capabilities are determined in response to a query from the ESC14. The monitored information may be sent from the respective monitoringdevice as long as the communication session remains established betweenthe device and the ESC 14. As discussed hereinbefore, the devices 28,30, and 32 may need to be remotely activated prior to establishing thecommunication session, i.e., prior to commencing remote monitoring. Inan alternative embodiment, instead of sending one or more queries to theuser's household 17, the ESC 14 may send one or more commands to thecorresponding monitoring devices 28, 30, and 32. Here, a single commandmay be sent to all of the monitoring devices 28, 30, and 32.Alternatively, a different command may be sent to each monitoring device28, 30, and 32. A command from the ESC 14 may be in a form similar tothat for the query. Thus, for example, a command may includealphanumeric characters and this alphanumeric command may be transmittedas a set of DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) tones.

A command is typically sent when the ESC 14 is already aware of devicecapabilities or device-specific information for the device to beactivated. The ESC 14 may obtain such information prior to the emergencyby requesting the user 12 to register such information with the ESC 14or by initially querying the devices 28, 30, and 32 after the user 12signs-up for the remote monitoring service provided by the ESC 14 (butbefore any emergency call is received from the user 12). Afterdetermining whether to activate a particular monitoring device 28, 30,or 32 (based on the information about device capabilities), the ESC 14sends a command to the corresponding monitoring device to activate thedevice. Upon device activation, a communication session is establishedbetween the respective monitoring device 28, 30, or 32, and the ESC 14.The ESC 14 thereafter receives monitored information from the activateddevice as discussed hereinbefore.

FIG. 4 depicts an arrangement wherein the emergency service center 14remotely controls a monitoring device 37 connected to a wireless LAN(Local Area Network) 39. The remote monitoring device 37 may communicatewith the ESC 14 via a host device 41, which can be, for example, atelephone device or a computer (as discussed hereinbelow with referenceto FIG. 6). The telephone device 41 may include a regular telephone withwireless communication capability (e.g., a cordless telephone unit) andwith or without additional functionalities integrated therein. Suchadditional functionalities may include, for example, answering machinefunctionality, digital camera functionality, etc. In the arrangementillustrated in FIG. 4, messages from the ESC 14 are sent over thecarrier network 16 and the first connecting link 34, and are initiallyreceived by the telephone device 41. The telephone device 41 thenwirelessly forwards the received message over the wireless LAN 39 to theremote monitoring device 37. Similarly, a message originating from theremote monitoring device 37 is initially sent to the telephone device 41via the wireless LAN 39. Thereafter, the telephone device 41 forwardsthe message to the ESC 14 over the carrier network 16.

The remote monitoring device 37 may be a wearable transceiver (e.g., inthe form of a wrist watch or necklace or wrist band) that monitors oneor more biological parameters, e.g., the user's blood pressure, or theuser's heart rate. The remote monitoring device 37 may include a digitalcamera or other video surveillance device to capture and transmit videodata obtained from the user's vicinity 17 to the ESC 14. In oneembodiment, the wireless LAN 39 connecting the remote device 37 and thehost device 41 may provide device-to-device connectivity based on theBluetooth™ technology or on the 802.11 protocol from the IEEE (Instituteof Electrical and Electronic Engineers). Communication over aBluetooth-based or an 802.11-based network is desirable because of lackof directionality in a wireless transmission that is based on radiotechnology. On the other hand, when the wireless LAN 39 connects the twodevices—i.e., the host device 41 and the remote monitoring device37—using a directional link, e.g., an infrared link similar to that usedby typical television or audio remote controls, those two devices maynot get freedom of movement while the communication between them is inprogress. Such a restriction on freedom of movement may not be desirablein the event of, for example, a life-threatening emergency.

A distinguishing feature in FIG. 4 is the wireless access to themonitoring device 37. Otherwise, the functionality accomplished by thearrangement in FIG. 4 is similar to that explained hereinbefore withreference to FIG. 3. In other words, for the arrangement in FIG. 4,functions such as transmission of a query or command by the ESC 14,reception by the ESC 14 of a response from the remote device 37, ESC'sremote activation of the monitoring device 37, ESC's establishment of acommunication session with the monitoring device 37, etc., are performedin a manner similar to that discussed hereinbefore with respect to FIG.3. Therefore, additional discussion of such similar functions is omittedto prevent repetition.

FIG. 5 shows an arrangement wherein the emergency service center 14remotely controls a monitoring device 44 via an IP network 46. The IPnetwork 46 includes any TCP/IP-based (Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol) data communication network such as, forexample, the world wide web portion of the Internet. The monitoringdevice 44 is connected to the IP network 46 via an IP terminal 48, whichcan be any device (e.g., a personal computer) capable of TCP/IP-based,communication. The monitoring device 44 may transmit digital data (whichincludes the monitored information as well as the response to a queryfrom the ESC 14) to the IP terminal 48, which, in turn, may generatesuitable TCP/IP data packets from the received data. The monitoringdevice 44 may be external to the IP terminal 48. Alternatively, themonitoring device 44 may be a part of the IP terminal 48 (e.g., builtinto the IP terminal 48). For example, in the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 5, the monitoring device 44 may include a digital camera attachedto a personal computer (as an IP terminal 48). On the other hand, thepersonal computer (i.e., the IP terminal 48) may have built-in hardwareto perform telephone device functionality. This telephone device canthus function as a monitoring device 44.

The IP terminal 48 is shown connected to the IP network 46 through agateway computer or server (simply, “the gateway”) 50. In oneembodiment, the gateway 50 may be owned and operated by an ISP (InternetService Provider) that provides Internet connectivity to the IP terminal48. The first connecting link 34 between the IP terminal 48 and thegateway 50 may be an ADSL line, a cable modem link, or any othersuitable link as discussed hereinbefore. More than one IP terminal 48 inthe user's household 17 may also be connected to the gateway 50 asillustrated in FIG. 6. Alternatively, a single gateway 50 may supportmultiple IP terminals 48 from different households. The gateway 50 mayalso be configured to perform TCP/IP data packet routing and transferfunctions. Additionally, the gateway 50 can also function as a firewallfor secured communication and may block unauthorized queries to theuser's household 17, thereby preventing device-specific information frombeing released to unscrupulous inquirers. The gateway 50 may beconfigured to identify queries from a specific authorized source, e.g.,the ESC 14, and allow only those queries to reach the IP terminal 48(and, hence, the monitoring device 44) in the user's household 17.

In one embodiment, the ESC 14 may maintain a database 52 physicallylocated within the ESC facility on a personal computer or a server (notshown). The database 52, which is accessible to the ESC personnel, maycontain device-specific information and device characteristics orprofile data for a large number of monitoring devices from variousmanufacturers. Here, the monitoring device 44 may simply report itsmodel and manufacturer information to the ESC 14 in response to a queryfrom the ESC 14. The ESC 14 may then access and search the database 52to determine pertinent device-specific information therefrom prior toestablishing a communication session with the monitoring device 44 andprior to reception of any monitored data from the device 44.

In an alternative embodiment, the monitoring device 44 may supply (e.g.,in response to the query from the ESC 14) a URL (Uniform ResourceLocator) to a remote website maintained by the manufacturer of thedevice 44. The website may reside on a remote server or computer 54 thatalso contains a device-specific information database 56 for one or moredevices available from the same manufacturer. The URL may contain theweb page address in, for example, a hypertext link format from which thedevice-specific information can be obtained from the manufacturer'swebsite. Upon receipt of the URL, the ESC 14 may access the remotewebsite to obtain necessary device-specific information or deviceprofile prior to activating the device 44. In one embodiment, themonitoring device 44 may supply the URL information to the ESC 14without waiting for a query from the ESC 14. The monitoring device 44may be programmed to transmit the URL along with the emergency helprequest, if any, to the ESC 14.

The IP network 46 may employ a class of service scheme wherein TCP/IPdata packets containing the emergency help request from the user 12, thequeries and commands from the ESC 14, the responses (to the queries fromthe ESC 14) from various monitoring devices, and the monitored datareceive higher preference than other data packets routed through the IPnetwork 46. The gateway 50 on the user's side and any similar interfacedevice on the ESC 14 side may be configured to recognize suchemergency-related data packets and assign higher priorities to them. TheIP network 46 itself may employ a routing algorithm that takes intoaccount the nature of the message contained in a data packet toaccordingly expedite the delivery of that data packet. The devices thatoriginate such emergency-related TCP/IP data packets—i.e., the IPterminal 48, the monitoring device 44, a personal computer or server(not shown) at the ESC 14, and any emergency reporting device other thanthe IP terminal 48 or the monitoring device 44 used by the personrequesting emergency help—may be configured to transmit an indication(e.g., a pre-assigned code or a designated digit sequence) as part ofeach data packet so as to identify the data packet as anemergency-related information packet that needs to be assigned higherpriority by the IP network 46 or any other data transfer mediumimplementing the class of service scheme.

FIG. 6 shows an arrangement wherein the emergency service center 14remotely controls more than one monitoring device via an IP network 46.FIG. 6 shows four monitoring devices 60, 62, 64, and 66 in the user'svicinity 17. Except for the presence of the wireless LAN 39 connectingtwo monitoring devices 64 and 66, the arrangement in FIG. 6 is similarto that in FIG. 5 in all essential aspects. For example, the ESC 14 mayaccess more than one remote database, i.e., databases 56 and 68 at theirrespective servers 54 and 70 in FIG. 6, to obtain device-specificinformation for different devices in the user's household 17. The ESC 14may need to access more than one remote database because all themonitoring devices 6066 may not be from the same manufacturer. In otherwords, two or more manufacturers may maintain their own websites (e.g.,on servers 54 and 70 in FIG. 6) from which device-specific data can beobtained. In addition to or in lieu of the remote databases 56 and 68,the arrangement in FIG. 6 may have a local database 52 at the ESC 14that contains device-specific information for one or more monitoringdevices 60, 62, 64, or 66.

It is thus noted that the discussion given hereinbefore with referenceto FIG. 5 may be extended to cover the multiple-device arrangement inFIG. 6. However, the data transfer between the monitoring device 66 andthe ESC 14 may require some additional explanation. The wirelessconnection between the monitoring devices 64 and 66 operates similarlyin principle as that illustrated in FIG. 4. The “base” monitoring device64 can be directly connected to the gateway 50 through the firstconnecting link 34. For example, the monitoring device 64 may be acomputer unit with telephone functionality that can be remotelyactivated by the ESC 14. The first connecting link 34 may be a regulartelephone line connecting the telephone (not shown) within the computerunit (not shown) to the gateway 50. Additionally, the device 64 mayinclude a wireless port to wirelessly communicate with the monitoringdevice 66 via the wireless LAN 39. The monitoring device 66 may be, forexample, a wireless digital camera, a wireless telephone equipped with adigital camera, or a biological parameter monitoring device (e.g., awrist-watch transceiver that can monitor human blood pressure).

As discussed with respect to FIG. 4, the query, if any, from the ESC 14is initially received by the “base” monitoring device 64 which thenforwards the query message to the wirelessly-connected monitoring device66. The receiving device 66 may send the response message to themonitoring device 64 via the wireless LAN 39. The monitoring device 64then forwards the response message to the ESC 14 over the IP network 46.As noted hereinbefore, the data (including queries, commands, responses,and monitored data) communicated between the monitoring device 66 andthe ESC 14 may be in the TCP/IP format. It is further noted that eachmonitoring device 60, 62, and 64 may include functionality similar tothat available from the IP terminal 48 (FIG. 5) so as to allow directconnectivity to the gateway 50 without an additional interface. Someexamples of such monitoring devices 60, 62, and 64 include a computerunit with telephone functionality (with or without the answering machinefeatures), a digital camera or video recorder, a computer unit withbuilt-in digital camera, etc.

FIG. 7 represents a setup for providing the emergency monitoring service(EMS) according to the present invention. Based on the foregoingmethodology to remotely monitor emergency data, a commercial entity(e.g., a telephone service provider)—referred to hereinbelow as the “EMSprovider” 80—may provide a fee-based emergency monitoring service to agroup of subscribers. The EMS provider 80 may charge a flat fee, arenewable subscription fee, or a per-usage fee for the service. A publicemergency assistance entity (e.g., a hospital or the police) may alsoprovide the fee-based emergency monitoring service. In that event, theESC 14 may itself be the EMS provider 80 as indicated by the dotted linkdirectly connecting the user's household 17 with the ESC 14. In oneembodiment, the emergency monitoring service may be a default servicewhen a subscriber signs up for a telephone connection. The subscribermay, however, opt out or cancel the service at any time.

The subscriber may need to register with the EMS provider so that theEMS provider can identify the subscriber when an emergency help request(e.g., a “911” call) is received. The EMS provider may monitor thetelephone digits (e.g., “9”, “1”, “1”) dialed from the subscriber'slocation to determine whether to activate the emergency monitoringservice. Furthermore, the subscriber may also have to notify the EMSprovider as to which monitoring devices in the subscriber's householdthe EMS provider is authorized to remotely activate. Such a notificationmay occur, for example, when the subscriber first signs up or registersfor the monitoring service. If a new monitoring device is later added inthe subscriber's household 17, that monitoring device may be registeredseparately by the subscriber or the device may be configured toelectronically communicate with the EMS provider 80 to register itself.

In one embodiment, the EMS provider 80 may act as an intermediarybetween the user's household 17 and the ESC 14 as illustrated in FIG. 7.The ESC 14 may be the one that serves the region in which the user'shousehold 17 is located. Here, the EMS provider 80 may initially detectwhether the user 12 has dialed for emergency help. In an alternativearrangement, to maintain the user's privacy, however, it may bedesirable to have the user contact the EMS provider 80 in case ofemergency. The EMS provider 80 may then activate one or more monitoringdevices in the user's vicinity 17 in the same manner as that discussedhereinbefore (FIGS. 2-6) with reference to the ESC 14. In other words,the EMS provider 80 may perform functions similar to the ESC 14 andtransfer all the monitored data to the ESC 14, which, then, candetermine the next appropriate course of action. In this embodiment, theESC 14 need not be capable of remote activation and monitoringcapabilities. Instead, the required monitored data/information isobtained by the EMS provider 80, which then forwards the received datato the ESC 14.

The monitoring devices in the user's household 17 may be configured to“determine” whether the EMS provider 80 is authorized to obtain themonitored data. This may prevent unscrupulous third parties fromreceiving personal information about the user 12. The EMS provider 80may supply a unique alphanumeric password or codeword for each householdserved by the EMS provider 80. The user/subscriber 12 may program themonitoring devices to “recognize” that password or codeword, therebyallowing only the authorized EMS provider 80 to activate variousmonitoring devices in the user's household 17 and to receive anymonitored information therefrom. Instead of an individual identifier perhousehold, each EMS provider may be assigned an identifier that remainsthe same for each household served by that EMS provider.

In one embodiment, the remote monitoring functionality may beautomatically activated whenever the user/subscriber 12 dials apredetermined number (e.g., “911”) for emergency help. Here, the EMSprovider 80 may take and retain control of all the monitoring deviceswithin the user's vicinity 17 for a predetermined duration or until theemergency help (from the ESC 14) arrives at the scene of emergency. Inthis embodiment, all the monitoring devices communicate with oneanother, with each monitoring device having a built-in “automaticconsent” feature that allows the EMS provider 80 to remotely control allthe monitoring devices in the user's vicinity 17 whenever any individualmonitoring device in the user's vicinity 17 is used to send a requestfor emergency help. For example, a user in a car may dial “911” from theuser's cell phone in the car, and the EMS provider 80, in response, maycontrol all the monitoring devices in the car, including, for example,the car throttle control device or brakes so as to slow the car toprevent any further casualty when it may not be safe to allow the cardriver to drive the car further (e.g., when the driver is having a heartattack while on the road). In an alternative embodiment, the monitoringdevices may not communicate with one another, but the devices may beconfigured to be individually “locked” in the monitoring mode by the EMSprovider 80. Only the EMS provider 80 may release the “locked” deviceafter a predetermined event (e.g., dispatch of emergency help).

The foregoing describes a system and method for remotely controlling oneor more monitoring devices in a user's household in the event of anemergency so as to more productively monitor the emergency situation ona real-time basis. The monitoring devices may include a number ofmultimedia instruments such as, for example, a telephone with ananswering machine, a computer with a built-in digital camera, a videorecording device, a cellular phone with an integrated digital camera,etc. An emergency service center (ESC) may remotely activate themonitoring devices, which, then, monitor the user's vicinity and reportthe monitored information to the ESC to enable the ESC personnel to planappropriate response to the emergency at hand. The remote activation andcontrol of a monitoring device may be accomplished via the Internet, inaddition to regular communication networks (e.g., the PSTN or a cellularphone network). A fee-based emergency monitoring service may be offeredto remotely monitor the subscriber's household or vicinity at the timeof emergency. The remote monitoring of the subscriber's vicinity at thetime of emergency is useful to expeditiously gauge the severity of theemergency, and, hence, to prepare an adequate response to help thesubscriber needing emergency assistance.

While several embodiments of the invention have been described, itshould be apparent, however, that various modifications, alterations andadaptations to those embodiments may occur to persons skilled in the artwith the attainment of some or all of the advantages of the presentinvention. It is therefore intended to cover all such modifications,alterations and adaptations without departing from the scope and spiritof the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of monitoring a vicinity of a monitoring device, comprising: receiving, at an emergency service center, an emergency help request; directly connecting, via a carrier network, to the monitoring device; querying the monitoring device to retrieve a capability associated with the monitoring device; remotely activating the monitoring device; and remotely controlling the monitoring device to monitor the vicinity.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving device-specific information from the monitoring device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein directly connecting, via a carrier network, to the monitoring device includes directly connecting, via one of the plain old telephone system (POTS), the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and a wireless communication network.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a parameter that the monitoring device can monitor.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein remotely controlling the monitoring device to monitor the vicinity includes remotely controlling the monitoring device to monitor the vicinity for a predetermined period of time.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating a feature of the monitoring device.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein remotely controlling the monitoring device to monitor the vicinity includes remotely sending a command to the monitoring device.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a uniform resource locator (URL) address of a website that contains device specific information regarding the monitoring device.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving device-specific information regarding the monitoring device from a database.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the emergency service center is authorized to obtain information from the monitoring device.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining whether the emergency service center is authorized to obtain information from the monitoring device is performed prior to remotely activating the monitoring device.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein determining whether the emergency service center is authorized to obtain information from the monitoring device includes determining, by the monitoring device, whether the emergency service center is authorized to obtain information from the monitoring device.
 13. An apparatus for monitoring a vicinity of a monitoring device, comprising: means for receiving, at an emergency service center, an emergency help request; means for directly connecting, via a carrier network, to the monitoring device; means for querying the monitoring device to retrieve a capability associated with the monitoring device; means for remotely activating the monitoring device; and means for remotely controlling the monitoring device to monitor the vicinity.
 14. A remote monitoring system, comprising: an emergency service center in communication with a carrier network; and a monitoring device directly connected to the emergency service center via the carrier network, wherein the monitoring device is configured to receive a query from the emergency service center and is further configured to be controlled by the emergency service center based on a capability retrieved from the monitoring device by the emergency service center in response to the query.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the carrier network is one of the plain old telephone system (POTS), the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and a wireless network.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the monitoring device is configured to receive an activation of a feature from the emergency service center.
 17. The system of claim 14, wherein the emergency service center is in communication with the carrier network via one of a telephone line cable, an ISDN line, an ADSL line, an optical fibre link, a radio link, and a cable modem link.
 18. The system of claim 14, wherein the monitoring device is in communication with the carrier network via one of a telephone line cable, an ISDN line, an ADSL line, an optical fibre link, a radio link, and a cable modem link.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the monitoring device is selected from the group consisting of a fax machine with a built-in telephone, a video camera unit, a telephone answering machine, a digital camera, a computer with a built-in camera unit, and a telephone with a built-in video camera and a data port.
 20. The system of claim 14, wherein the monitoring device is configured to determine whether the emergency service center is authorized to accept data from the monitoring device. 